All the News, Reviews, Guides and Reports on Electric Cars

The Volkswagen Golf—or VW Rabbit, as it's known in North America,—may be the most flexible and widely used car in the world—its underlying architecture has spawned a phenomenal volume of other cars. The Golf's underpinnings are used in more than 3 million cars a year, sold under the Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, and Skoda brands. Now, as VW gets ready to unveil the sixth generation Golf at next month’s Paris Auto Show, the company will reveal a plug-in hybrid concept.

Over the past year, GM has teased the public with successive glimpses of more and more of the much-hyped Chevy Volt. Now, the first set of photos of the whole car—shown behind the development team executives—have been “leaked” on several enthusiast websites.

Jim Press, Chrysler president and vice chairman, told Hybridcars.com that his company’s electric vehicles are “closer to production than you think.” He also took a stab at General Motors, suggesting that the Chevy Volt is a "PR stunt."

The story in yesterday’s Detroit Free Press sounded promising: A new electric car maker, with a revolutionary new electric motor, would revive the venerable Detroit Electric brand and start selling electric cars by the end of next year. The article didn’t point out, however, that Detroit Electric had already been revived once, by a California electric car company with a controversial history.

Magnussen’s Toyota of Palo Alto, Calif., took the bold step of starting to take $500 deposits for 2010 plug-in Priuses—even before a grid-capable Prius has been announced as an official product. Eric Doebert, business development manager for Magnussen’s, said, "It makes sense that people should get in line now in order to have a shot of even taking delivery in the first year that the vehicle is available."

Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters in Tokyo yesterday that fleet tests of an experimental Prius, modified to be rechargeable, will be moved up to late next year from 2010. Bob Lutz, General Motors product czar, told reporters at a press event that its plug-in hybrid, the Chevy Volt, “wasn’t even comparable” to a Prius converted to plug into the electric grid. The race continues.

If the US automobile industry ramps up its efforts to produce eco-friendly vehicles for the mass market, it could cut the nation’s gas consumption by 30 to 50 percent by 2035. That’s according to a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But the study also asserts that the mentality of car consumers will need to change.

The unofficial theme of the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver was the building of a green economy. In speech after speech, the Democrats pointed to Barack Obama’s plan to put 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on American roads by 2015—and to rebuild the American auto industry in the process—as the cornerstone of his plan for energy independence.

If you were to visualize the most enthusiastic supporter of the much-touted Chevrolet Volt—someone who rallies thousands on its behalf, who blogs daily, whose influence and prestige garners invites to speak with top GM brass—what would that person look like? Probably not Lyle Dennis, a mild-mannered suburban neurologist from New Jersey.